Book cover of Dark Emu: Aboriginal Australia and the Birth of Agriculture

Book description

History has portrayed Australia's First Peoples, the Aboriginals, as hunter-gatherers who lived on an empty, uncultivated land. History is wrong.

In this seminal book, Bruce Pascoe uncovers evidence that long before the arrival of white men, Aboriginal people across the continent were building dams and wells; planting, irrigating, and harvesting…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Dark Emu as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Dark Emu is the history of Aboriginal Australia, before the white people came. As a settler here myself, I was astounded as chapter after chapter demolished the myth of Terra nullius and showed how comprehensively the landscape had been managed before invasion. The descriptions of the early colonialists had recorded the truth, and then it had ben buried.

I know some people who have had strong negative reactions to this work as well so it is controversial.

So you know, the author Bruce Pascoe is a Bunurong man and an award-winning Australian writer and editor. Dark Emu won the 2016…

If you love Dark Emu...

Ad

Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Want books like Dark Emu?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Dark Emu.

Browse books like Dark Emu

Book cover of The Tender Carnivore and the Sacred Game
Book cover of Against the Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization
Book cover of Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,210

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like Dark Emu, you might also like...

Book cover of Old Man Country

Old Man Country by Thomas R. Cole,

This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world’s most famous heart surgeon.

In these and other intimate conversations, the book…

Book cover of Lane and the Inventor

Lane and the Inventor by Amy Q. Barker,

A grumpy-sunshine, slow-burn, sweet-and-steamy romance set in wild and beautiful small-town Colorado. Lane Gravers is a wanderer, adventurer, yoga instructor, and social butterfly when she meets reserved, quiet, pensive Logan Hickory, a loner inventor with a painful past.

Dive into this small-town, steamy romance between two opposites who find love…

5 book lists we think you will like!